Najam Keynotes DRC Conference
Adil Najam, Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, delivered a keynote address during the Danish Refugee Council‘s (DRC) virtual Global Event on Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Forced Displacement on September 1, 2020. The event convened experts, practitioners, and other collaborators from different fields as they shared, explored, and connected ideas related to the nexus of climate change, forced displacement and forced displacement.
During his remarks, Najam spoke about pressing climate challenges, the failures that have led to the dire global climate crisis, and how the world must come together in the Age of Adaptation. He argued that the discussion around climate change needs to shift away from carbon management to human development. Climate change is an ongoing issue, and while obviously countries around the world should reduce their carbon footprint, Najam says that policies and strategies should be formed with climate change in mind so it doesn’t become a humanitarian crisis.
Thank you, Danish Refugee Council for inviting me to keynote at #DRCGlobalEvent2020 on "Climate Change on the Morning After Covid."
In #AgeOfAdaptation, climate cannot just be about managing #carbon; it's right at the center of all #development, all #humanitarian, conversations. pic.twitter.com/4i8XxO2zAu
— Adil Najam (@AdilNajam) September 1, 2020
Najam spoke at length about the different facets of climate change, and emphasized that it is not an issue to be tackled by science alone. The humanitarian, development, and climate challenges created by rising global temperatures, clear water shortages, crumbling infrastructure, and extreme weather events are encompassing of one single challenge that should be tackled together with a global perspective.
Dean Najam’s keynote remarks can be viewed below:
Closing keynote: The Day after COVID by Dr. Adil Najam
Posted by Reeta Hafner on Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Adil Najam is a global public policy expert who also served as the Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. He is the Inaugural Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and was the former Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Currently he is hosting a video expert interview series called #WorldAfterCorona for the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. Read more about him here.